Margaret Elysia Garcia, author and poet published by El Martillo Press, has spent a couple of decades living in Greenville, a Gold Rush-era Northern California town, that no longer exists as it did in 2021. That’s because it was devoured by the Dixie Fire, one of the largest blazes in California history.

Margaret began writing her poetry collection “Burn Scars” while waiting at traffic stops driving from her mother's house to her former hometown. She grappled with the destructive aftermath that began with a eulogy and ended with a 79 page poetry book memoir.   

On this show, we discuss with Margaret how poetry serves as a vehicle to process, mourn, and raise awareness around climate disruption while honoring those on the front lines. She shares her poetry and tells us how a town of marginal incomes, set in dense forests, was almost completely destroyed. Margaret relates how the fire started near a Pacific Gas and Electric power station and spread at an incomprehensible rate as a result of gusty winds and historically dry conditions. Thankfully no lives were lost. But the fire resulted in significant losses of property and livelihoods with major challenges for rebuilding. One thing’s for sure, lots of lessons were learned and stronger community bonds were built. 

Listen to the extended interview: https://www.patreon.com/posts/margaret-elysia-90722908

Margaret Elysia Garcia [http://www.margaretelysiagarcia.com/]is the author of the short story collection Graft, the poetry chapbook Burn Scars, and the debut poetry collection the daughterland poems. She’s the editor of the forthcoming Red Flag Warning Anthology. She teaches poetry with the Community Literary Initiative and writes a history column for High Country Life magazine in Northeastern California. She’s currently working on her second collection of poems, Watershed, also to be released by El Martillo Press [https://www.elmartillopress.com/margaretelysiagarcia].

Jessica Aldridge, Co-Host and Producer of EcoJustice Radio, is an environmental educator, community organizer, and 15-year waste industry leader. She is a co-founder of SoCal 350, organizer for ReusableLA, and founded Adventures in Waste. She is a former professor of Recycling and Resource Management at Santa Monica College, and an award recipient of the international 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership and the 2016 inaugural Waste360, 40 Under 40.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ 
Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ 
Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio
PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url  

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt
Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge 
Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats
Ep. 193
Photo credit: Margaret E. Garcia

Burn Scars: A Poetic Reckoning with Wildfires with Margaret Elysia Garcia

Welcome to Twice 5 Miles Radio. I'm your host, James Navé. Today, I’m going solo with my thoughts on how poetry changes life. In this episode, you’ll hear me perform poems that have shaped my thinking over the years. You’ll discover why a line of verse my mother recited to me when I was a boy continues to be my north star to this day.

Traveling and being on the road have been constants in my life. Sometimes I’ve loved the journey; other times, I’ve wondered why I’m driving through a storm in Tennessee. In this show, you’ll hear a few of my poems, including "The Road" and "The Tulsa Pool Player."
Dylan Thomas makes an appearance with "Fern Hill"—or rather, I show up performing "Fern Hill," a poem I memorized in 1985 while spending two weeks at a Tibetan Buddhist center in the south of France. I touch on environmental themes with my poem "The Bug," followed by Elizabeth Bishop’s "The Fish."

I also perform a longer piece by Charles Wright titled "The Lonesome Pine Special." I love performing this poem because it reminds me of how much work I have to do to reach Wright’s level of mastery. There’s a good reason why Charles Wright was the 2014 U.S. Poet Laureate.

I close the show with a poem about a jazz band and a touch of love. Overall I enjoyed making this episode, and I hope you enjoy listening to "How Poetry Changes Life."

Poems That influence Me with poet  and Twice 5 Miles Radio host James Navé

Twice 5 Miles Radio is an hour-long interview show that digs beneath the surface with people with much to say and the courage to say.  The show's title (Twice 5 Miles) comes from lines in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. 

I am a poet, storyteller, educator, and manuscript coach with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. With over 20 years of experience, I’ve taught workshops on writing, creativity, and public speaking worldwide, drawing from a background that includes memorizing 600+ poems and performing poetic storytelling globally.

My latest book, 100 Days: A Poetic Memoir After Cancer, was published by 3: A Taos Press in May 2023. I’ve also co-authored How to Read for an Audience and Write What You Don’t Know: Ten Steps to Writing with Confidence, Energy, and Flow. Through The Imaginative Storm Writing Project, co-created with Allegra Huston, I guide writers to unlock their creativity and craft impactful, dynamic work.

As co-founder of The Artist’s Way Creativity Camp with Julia Cameron, I’ve taught creativity courses for over two decades. Julia describes me as “a quick, curious mind with a humanist eye for poetic detail and an important force for change.”

I’ve also served as director of The Taos Storytelling and Poetry Festivals and host Twice 5 Miles Radio, a podcast broadcast in Asheville and Taos and streamed on SoundCloud.

EcoJustice Radio presents environmental and climate stories from a social justice frame, featuring voices not necessarily heard on mainstream media.

Our purpose is to amplify community voices, broaden the reach of grassroots-based movements, and inspire action. We investigate solutions for social, environmental, and climate issues with an eye to advance human health, steward wild landscapes, and solve the climate crisis across the USA and the world.

Featured weekly on KPFK Los Angeles and KPFT Houston, and found on all major podcast apps. We are nationally syndicated through the Pacifica Network and PRX and heard on public radio stations across the US and downloaded in over 25 countries.

Co-hosts Jack Eidt, Carry Kim, and Jessica Aldridge present a broad range of perspectives: land defenders and water protectors; Indigenous leaders, front/fenceline community spokespeople; youth organizers; ecosystem and land stewards; regenerative farmers and permaculture specialists; spiritual and faith leaders; environmental health advocates and practitioners; documentary filmmakers; climate scientists; and political decision makers.

EcoJustice Radio [http://EcoJusticeRadio.org] is produced by SoCal350.org since 2017. 

Tune in live to KPFK Radio Thursdays from 4 to 5 PM (PT) at 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 93.7 FM North San Diego, 99.5 FM Ridgecrest-China Lake, or KPFK.org. 

We also are featured on KPFT Houston from 4 to 5 PM (CT) at 90.1 FM or KPFT.org and other public radio stations on the Pacifica Network.

New tracks tagged #EnvironmentalPoetry